Welcome to the home of The Question Evolution Project. Presenting information demonstrating that there is no truth in minerals-to-man evolution, and presenting evidence for special creation. —Established by Cowboy Bob Sorensen

Friday, February 12, 2016

Waterless Clouds, Wandering Stars

by Cowboy Bob SorensenThis article for Question Evolution Day is addressed to professing Christians. Part of the purpose of this site and The Question Evolution Project is to equip believers to give a strong apologetic for our faith (1 Peter 3:15-16), and to avoid being deceived by false teachers.Christians have to contend with people who are hostile to biblical truth because it goes against their natural condition, and are offended by the gospel message (1 Corinthians 2:14, John 8:44, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 1 John 5:19). Add to this that biblical creationists not only show that minerals-to-microbiologist evolution is unscientific, but also show how science supports Scripture, then anti-creationists really get on the prod. Sadly, the problem is compounded by professing but compromising Christians who have a low view of the Bible, and those who are actually apostate (1 John 2:19). We are given many serious warnings about these people who claim to be with us but are actually against us.

Who Are the False Teachers?

A careful distinction must be made. There are doctrinal distinctives among believers and denominations, and there will be differences in interpretations of certain texts. We must be careful to extend grace to brothers and sisters in Christ who happen to disagree on matters that are not essential to salvation and do not affect the authority of Scripture; we can disagree and still have fellowship with one another.

Some Christians elevate their personal beliefs on side issues to supreme importance, and act like if you do not agree with them, you may be uneducated, unsaved, or even a heretic. While biblical creation science is a side issue in a way, that does not negate its importance in a consistent understanding of Scripture (see "Hell, Creation, and Side Issues" and its follow-up, "Information and Discernment" for more about this). Also note that you'll be hard-pressed to find a major creation science ministry that teaches belief in evolution or an old Earth are essential for salvation.We are warned in many parts of the Bible about false teachers, false prophets, and apostates. The book of Jude spends time discussing them (the titles of this article and its continuation are taken from Jude 1:12-13), and Paul's epistles to Timothy have extensive strong warnings. This is not a matter of "agreeing to disagree" because apostates and false teachers are not only giving bad teachings, but undermine the authority of Scripture and the gospel message itself.One warning is that apostates will join in with us and claim to be brothers and sisters in Christ, but give divisive and false teachings. There are riders on the owlhoot trail who claim to believe that the Bible is without error, and then contradict themselves by saying that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are not to be understood according to historical-grammatical exegesis, but must instead be interpreted according to ever-changing man-made science philosophies. Essentially, they are echoing Satan's question in Genesis 3:1, "Did God really say...?"Both epistles of Peter, Paul’s epistles to Titus and Timothy, and the
epistle of Jude all have very strong warnings against false teachers.
Matthew 7 and 1 John warned of antichrists, also see Acts 20:29-30. Revelation tells us
about false teachers and their effects. 1 Timothy 4:1 refers to “doctrines of demons/devils”.

How Do They Act?

Apostates often walk among us and pretend to be part of the body of Christ, but many simply fall away. Seeking to be a Bible teacher is not to be taken lightly, as we have stricter judgment (James 3:1). Teachers risk becoming conceited (especially new converts, 1 Timothy 3:6), and must know how to handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15) without being deceitful (2 Corinthians 4:2). False teachers often seek preeminence and admiration like the Pharisees (Matthew 23:5-7, 3 John 1:9), cause divisions (Jude 1:19), spend time on idle speculations and useless argumentation (1 Timothy 1:4), and make confident assertions about matters they do not understand (1 Timothy 1:7). They are proud (1 Timothy 6:3-4).

Should We Publicly Refute Them?

I was extremely reluctant to "name names" in the past because I thought (and others have expressed this concern) that we should obey what Jesus taught in Matthew 5:24 and Matthew 18:15 by going to them one-on-one. This teaching is for personal interactions, not public teachings. If someone in the church spoke harshly to me, I have no business making a public issue of that. When it comes to false teachers, they are making their teachings public. Indeed, many will personally attack biblical creationist individuals and ministries. Paul named people who did harm to the gospel in 2 Tim. 2:16-18 and 2 Tim. 4:14-15, among others. Reluctantly, I called out William Lane Craig, who does not defend the God of the Bible and actively ridicules biblical creationists.Scripture tells us to contend earnestly for the faith (Jude 1:3), and 2 Timothy 2:14-19 says that false teachers are to be avoided and refuted, which is supported in Romans 16:17. I believe that Ephesians 5:11 applies here as well.

What About Theistic Evolutionists?

The concept of theistic evolution, where God used evolutionary processes in the process of creation (hereafter referred to as TE) may seem valid on the surface, but does violence to the gospel message. In another article, I wrote about this:

People accept theistic evolution (the view that God used
evolution in his creative processes) for various reasons. In fact, I held that position
myself for a short time, before I realized that not only is evolution terrible science, but is completely incompatible to
what the Word clearly teaches. Some people casually take the
"scientific consensus" of evolution and then slap God's name on it as if
that blesses their lack of understanding and furthering of heresy.

There are four main reasons I believe that people hold to TE (theistic evolution):

They assume it is true, so we must be understanding the Bible incorrectly (as discussed in the section about Adam Huschka)

Fear of what other
people will think, and being "labeled" (as mentioned above), and also
bullying by militant theistic evolutionists

They have not studied how evolution is actually harmful to the gospel message [13] [14] [15], and may even be considered biblically lazy

Open rebellion to the authority of the Word of God and the plain teachings of the Bible

This last
point is the most important, as there are many who teach TE and put down
the Word of God. What they call "science" (evolutionary interpretations
of observations) is given a magisterial position above the Word, and it is man telling God what he said and means.